


Earth To

by The_lovely_noodles



Series: Unfortunate [1]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Bad Things Happen Bingo, Comfort, Crying, Crying Keith (Voltron), Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Hurt Keith (Voltron), Hurt/Comfort, Keith (Voltron) is Bad at Feelings, Keith (Voltron) is a Mess, Keith centric, Keith is so sad, Langst, M/M, Multi, No editing we make 1000 word drabbles like men, Non canon compliant, hurt keith, klangst, leader keith, post season two, prompt from tumblr
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-25
Updated: 2018-09-25
Packaged: 2019-07-17 16:02:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,439
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16099013
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_lovely_noodles/pseuds/The_lovely_noodles
Summary: Lance told Keith to respect the Black Lion's decision.Too bad Keith doesn't like the decision.orKeith doesn't think he's up to snuff to be Black Paladin and Lance is a patient soul.





	Earth To

**Author's Note:**

> for BadThingsHappenBingo! I entered in that bingo game to crank out more whump and this was one of the requests! I have two more in the works as well as a separate langst thingy involving eyes! This is the first time I write about Keith and his struggles instead of Lance, so I hope I did that boy justice.

_“The Black Lion accepted you, I have to respect its decision.  You should too.”_ Lance’s voice is serious and stony when he says that to Keith, hand firm on his shoulder, firm enough to keep him from floating away.  

 

Keith respects the decision of the Black Lion-- of course he does, but he doesn’t have to like it.  Shiro is gone for now and his words have resonated back to the lion.

 

_If I don’t make it, I want you to take over Voltron._

 

Keith hates those words, finds that they keep him up at night.  The decision is made, either way, the Lion didn’t give him a choice.  

 

Keith is standing in front of the black lion which now sits silently and proudly in its hangar.  There’s a underlying and familiar hum coming from the lion, buzzing in the back of his mind. The head of Voltron.  He wonders how Shiro can easily, almost instinctively take on that role and not be overwhelmed by the drugging dopamine rush.  It would be easy, so so easy to just redirect the decision of an arm, or a leg-- when the thought of one paladin slithers into Voltron’s stream, Keith can kill it, cut that thought off.  He can overwhelm them all with his decisions.

 

 _You won’t overwhelm them.  It isn’t that easy._ Keith feels his lips press into a thin line, feels a cool breeze and whistling hum swirl in the back of his mind.  The Black Lion is like meadows and sea breezes but at the same time a howling scream and a wind that can blow him away.  

 

At some points its as if Shiro never left.  Pidge and Hunk still treat him like a friend, Lance still pokes and prods him and calls his mullet stupid.  

 

Only now within the spark of battle, Lance brings Keith back from the euphoria that the Black Lion feeds him with a sharp _“What next team leader?”_

 

Allura is a brilliant pilot, and yet despite everything she acts and looks young.  Pidge is tiny and while she is a fierce thing is vulnerable in battle and Hunk is still afraid most of the time.  Lance is still the one that wrangles them all together, keeps Keith off of adrenaline that comes from the heat of battle.  

 

 _It’s fine._ Keith wants to reassure himself-- _all fine--_ until one day, it isn’t fine.  

 

The mission is an abject failure-- he pairs Hunk and Pidge up and tells them to download info that they need that could possibly lead Pidge to her brother and him to Shiro.  He keeps Lance and Allura by his side to keep the hallways clear.

 

Then they get ambushed.  Hunk tries fending them off and Keith can hear them over the comms, screaming and struggling and Hunk’s voice becomes so loud and high pitched when Pidge lets out an unusual unearthly scream.  Keith wants to keep going, to fight but he can’t scrub Pidge’s scream from his ears and he’s frozen, he watches out of the corner of his eye when Lance is covering himself with a shield, trying to protect them both.  They’re overwhelmed and Pidge is down and Hunk is panicking over the comms and Keith is zoned out, bayard lose in his hand.

 

_“Keith! Snap out of it!”_

 

Yet he can’t… the Black Lion is prodding him, huge and growly in his brain, trying to tug him out of the trance but he feels himself being tugged from behind and suddenly they’re running, he can hear Hunk saying that the yellow lion came on its own to come get them-- the cruiser  is gonna lose power in about five minutes due to the breach. They’re going to lose the Altean pod they used to sneak in with but the yellow lion was here.

 

The Yellow Lion is chaos because Pidge is prone on the bench in the cockpit, her side darkened with blood.  Lance is fumbling around with Allura in the glove box nearby looking for bandages to stop the bleeding and Keith feels like he’s out of his body, watching as Pidge bleeds on the bench.  

 

 _“Team Leader?”_ Lance whirls on him suddenly, hands gripping his arms tightly, giving him a small, rough shake, _“Please! Keith! Snap out of it.”_

 

Fuck does Keith want to snap out of it so bad and not just stare at the blood.  

 

They return to the castle of Lions and Pidge is ushered into a pod, Hunk is quiet and moody, Lance is pacing.  Keith feels a whirl of guilt in his chest, for not saying anything for not calling on his own Lion to help them.  Hunk is hugging himself, his armor scratched up and his face now patched up with bandages and Lance has a hand pressed into his mouth, deep in thought.  

 

They needed a leader, Keith thinks…  he isn’t being one.

 

He wanders the room, his body buzzing with the lions’ collective stress.  He finds himself in the Black Lion’s hangar again, the hurricane of a storm kicking up his thoughts, making his skin buzz with anxious energy.  

 

“Keith.”  and Keith turns, his breath catching in his throat, his chest tight and trapped.  Lance is standing behind him, his brow furrowed in concern, his arms folded, “Are you okay?”  

 

Keith swallows, finds his fingers digging into his arm and his voice trapped in his throat.  He wants to say yes, but all he can think about is his frozen body, the reaction that was like them.  

 

Lance stands there, waits for an answer his eyes keeping him pinned to the spot, like two flames boring holes into him.  

 

“I--I,” Keith starts and he inhales shakily, trying to find the words.  He’s the leader now, he should have taken charge, should have asked Lance to ground him.  

 

“I can’t take care of them.”  Keith finally says and his voice cracks and breaks as his says it.  Lance shuffles closer to him, his facial expression exuding understanding and Keith clears his throat, finds that his nose is stuffed.  

 

“I can’t do this.” He says again and his eyes are suddenly blurring with tears, and when he inhales again it’s a big ugly heave of a sob.  

His hands press into his eyes as tears leak out and his voice wavers as he continues to speak.  

 

“I can’t protect them, or you.”  He mumbles and his exhale is another ugly, shaky sob.  

 

Suddenly Lance’s arms are around him, and Keith melts into the touch, unraveling the tension in his stomach, finds himself bending to dig his face into Lance’s chest.  

 

“I couldn’t do it-- I don’t think I can do it-- P-Pidge could have died and--”  Keith cuts himself off as he hiccups between words, keeps Lance tight to him, clenches onto the back of his shirt.   _Ground me, please don’t let me go_ , he wants to beg and the hurricane becomes a sea breeze.  Keith wants to thank Black for trying his hardest to keep him calm.  

Lance says nothing as Keith cries, palm rubbing circles into his back, breathing deep and rhythmically until Keith finds himself following Lance’s lead.  

Even though Keith runs out of tears to shed and practically ruins Lance’s only shirt he finds himself still keeping his head against his chest, to hear his heartbeat, to follow the rhythm that Lance was setting.  

 

“Are you better?” Lance asks, his voice making a deep vibration that Keith can feel and Keith purses his lips, makes a nod but doesn’t let go.  

 

“Pidge is okay.”  Lance says, his voice steady like an old river.  

 

“I can’t lead you guys.”  Keith mumbles and Lance continues to rub circles into his back with his palm.  

 

“The Black Lion doesn’t make mistakes.”  Lance says. It’s almost cryptic and sort of disconnected, but it’s grounding all the more, “When I said respect its decision I also want to say don’t doubt its decision.”  

 

“The mission failed.”  Keith finds himself saying.  

 

“And we all messed up, but now, we have another chance on fixing our mistakes.”  Lance sounds sage-like when he says that, his voice, still a steady river.

 

They’re still hugging and Keith doesn’t want to let go, afraid that if he does he’ll float away again, or cry again.  ‘

 

“Pidge should be out of the pod in a few.”  Lance says, “Do you want to go see her?”

 

Keith finally takes his face out of Lance’s chest, making a face at the ruined front of Lance’s shirt.  He doesn’t let go of the back.

 

“Yeah, sure.”  Keith says and Lance doesn’t lift his palm from his back.   

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Hmu @Voltron to help me fill my bingo card and to ask me questions and generally talk to me and stuff! Hmu @Lungs-n-lance for more sparse Langst content that is weird focused on Houseki No Kuni.


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